New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-20
she would have said oarstg or hass1ioh instead of


Margaret. 1t is the spiritual antagonlsm
| between Evil and Good which is typi-
fed in her instructive intnitIve aversion.
This is clearly shown further on, when she says "
feel his presence like something ill.," When he Is
by she cannot prav" She feels as though she
had lost her love for Fanst But nothing OF this Is
the effect of physical uglineSs and when, as IN inc
materalist Mar ha intuition does Tot operate
warningly Mephsio produces an altogether favor
able IMPRESSION for we find Martha saying that he
must surely be of noble race he is so gallant a
gentleman.
There is then, no warrant to be found in Goethe
for representing Mephistopheles as hideons or DO
formed. and If we examine more closely the indIca-
tions of character given by the poet we shall fnd
oven less ground for approving the view taken
BY NJ Coquen. The latter In bis reply
to Mr. Irving. says: "Mepbisio is the one VINO
says no. His role is to disgust Faust with acton
by showing limits nothDgness" This Isl curious
perversion of Goe he's motive The role OF Mephisto
is to content Faust with material action. not to
disgust him. and the wager between them shows
this clearly According to that. the moment faust
declares himself so conented that he would wish
the present moment prolonged he is to be at tho
disposition OF the iend. Faust says:
"Werd ich znm Augenblcke sacen;
Verweile doch du Dist so sh0n.
Damn magst du mich IN FeSsen schlagen,
Damn Will ich germ "a Grunde gchn!"
Which Taylor renders;
"When thus hail the Moment tiving;
All. still deiay-thou art so faIr'
Then bind me IN thy bonds undylng.
My final ruin tnon declare
Mephisfopheies is emphatlcay an intellectual
spirit lie declares himself TO he " the spirit that
ever denies; part of that Power which yer
pctually produces Good while intending Evil
lie has 10 illusions himself fact. ~ is shown in
the second part. when he calls on the water spirits
to assist him IN defeating the EmpcrOrS enemies,
he is unable to perceive the illusions produced by
his own internal arts, and so tells Faust His
creed is that nothing was worthy Of creation and
that everything ought to be DESTROYED; and he is
devoted to the work of Neg1uDn, which
involves Destruction Io procee /, stca LILY
on these lines notwithstanding he knows success to
be unatranable because it is his nature and he
do nothing else. Love he cannot know, nor pity,
nor sympathy, and he loses Faust in the end be-
cause the limitations of his nature render him in
capable of perccIvng that all his temptatOns have
really failed through the stimulus they have gwen
to his intended victims aspirations The explaDa-
ton of FauSt's final rescue IL given ~ the Angel
who bears away his spirit to Heaven:
"Wcr INNER Strebend sch bemiht
Den k0lncn wiz eri0,on."
Rendered BY Bayard Taylor:
~ hOC'cr aSpircs unwcaricdly
Is not beyond reGecminC"
Faust has a. PRED. One alteranotncr no has tasted
aud rejected the pleasures Of cartn. all the time
refining and e'eyatIng hi, idcal. until when his
hoUr strikes he is engaged IN a WORK of broad
Philanthropy. But Mephistoohe' e cannot per
the spin tual aspect Of the enterprises INTO
which he leads Faust II IS always the same with
him. He is ever dong good wh lie striving to do
evil. lie ISL part OF that darkness from which
Light was bora, and because % TIN, relationship
he cannot prevent his dark purp 'ss, fron turning
TO light. He can never understand. much less
sympathzc WITH human lovo or haze or passion
of any kind. When Faust reproaches HIM with tho
wretchcd state which hts hefal c1 Margaret, he
answers HIM. IN a .urt OF ,mpfCh eudIng wonder
-"She Is not the first" When he ,nl TIE three
mighty ores have c0mmltci nvrici ~ pretending
% carry out Fau,ts DcAc,i he scru, unable 30 uu-
deT,iahd the horror and loaIhIug with when
sconsibiiiy for the deed j. rpudIaicd. Bat
throughout hi, Iutcllcctu 4 kceInc,, Is poserfifiy
asserted AMI Nr. living has represented AuD tHu-.
to tae true AID FAITHFUL cmbod meni of Goelhr's
concep ION 30 far As Mopsist"pi les can be pat
upon the Stage 1T all he has bcon pu' there by
Henry Irving Costume. ACTON. cXprc,Ion are
edch ana al hneN represented IN dinhOiIf SIDE
of the chaac er j. maryciDL-iy. even avfIiiy. s"t
forth IN this great creation. he Imla'phton can
furnish iorh no more dreadful picture Of hciii-h
graihc3'lon than l. expressed IN III" lac OF
MI lrVlng's M"phiSrOJAc g. a; he ~ Nmoui
when faust and Mlrttr,t disappear IA % iho h5u.r
ol Tie Latter on tleir TO lister thl 90 diy
pollOh Ia Martdf"ts mother: whiic 90 thr attitude
OF the henI on tIc summit OF tho R;0cArn. when.
pluug"d IN profou1uc-t nlga o.c i"rd H. at igl',
up ia" sinister figure, !Oln ud feature, cl.4 bluo
lsl = a al 4
nate "a, IN hi have ,AiI,ie the most gent con-
Ccpt on of the poet himself
IL l. In1guInr ent .ntattOn. and II G1clL" u
an authority upon his own meaning. II - based
upD1 thOrOugIIy just yicY Of tuc original; "a
view which NJ. COqnrln appears TO have missed
almost PEI YcIacly.